30 Minutes A Brainiac 5 Story
by CardcaptorWolf
Summary: Brainy thinks about his life as his last 30 minutes tick away. based on t.A.T.u.'s song, 30 Minutes and the animated series


Brainy was lying on his bed. If he could cry, he would be flooding the room. But no. It was hard enough to get Brainiac 5 to feel any emotion at all. It was only the part of him that longed to be human that let him feel. He looked at his arm once again and saw the bomb ticking away. It was a special bomb common to Colu. It was a part of every Coluan incase there was a need to get rid of them. Brainiac 5 was no exception. The bomb was built specifically for self destruction. No one else would be harmed by it unless they were in direct contact with him. So that was why, Brainy was sitting alone in his room, waiting for the timer to tick out.  
He had not activated the bomb himself of course. After his last refusal to join the Coluans, they concluded this was the only fate left for him. They had activated the bomb, and now the android was sitting helplessly in his room. No one could help him. He was alone. That was how he had lived, and that was how he would die.  
He looked at the timer once again and it flashed 30:00. Thirty minutes. This immediately brought back one memory of Superman and himself. Superman had asked if Brainy could find him some old music for him to listen to. Brainiac 5 could not understand this longing to listen to music, but had none the less fulfilled the request. While he was searching though, he had found one song by a female group called t.A.T.u. The song was titled, 30 minutes. Out of curiosity, Brainy had played the song and couldn't help but listen to the entire thing. Having the expansive memory he did, he remembered the song perfectly. Remembering it made the sadness in his heart grow stronger. 

Out of sight,  
Out of mind,  
Out of time,  
To decide.

Do we run?  
Should I hide?  
For the rest,  
Of my life.

Can we fly?  
Do I stay?  
We could lose,  
We could fail

In the moment,  
It takes,  
To make plans,  
Or mistakes

30 minutes, a blink of an eye  
30 minutes, to alter our lives  
30 minutes, to make up my mind  
30 minutes, to finally decide

30 minutes, to whisper your name  
30 minutes, to shoulder the blame  
30 minutes, of bliss, thirty lies  
30 minutes, to finally decide

To decide  
To decide, to decide, to decide

To decide  
To decide, to decide, to decide

To decide

After the song, had played through his head, he glanced back at the timer. 27:40. He wondered if he should tell the others. No. He couldn't. They would refuse to let him go. They would stay by his side until the bomb exploded, and they would be destroyed as well. He took this time to imagine what live would have been like as a human. He probably wouldn't have had his twelfth level intelligence so he wouldn't have been a superhero. He would have been a normal human boy. A normal human boy with normal human emotions. He would have fallen in love.  
He couldn't fully understand love. He had of course seen a slight "spark" between Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, but he had never seen love. Never experienced it. Love was not something that happened on Colu. Genetic material was dropped off at the breeding facility and matched up with it's best match to make the best possible Coluans. Most Coluans never knew their parents but Brainiac 5 had hacked into the facilities main frame when he was still on Colu and found that he was the son of Brainiac 4, but he had never found his mother.  
He had heard Superman talk about his mother. Of course, it wasn't his real mother. Superman had come from Krypton and had only been adopted as a child by the Kents. Maybe that was why Brainy had felt some attachment to the "man of steel." He had never known his parents either.  
With another glace at the timer, it showed 23:14. Time just seemed to be crawling by. He sighed. He had never been this helpless before. Even when Quarvermass 12 was shut down, he had known he had had a backup disk and wouldn't be lost forever. Now, there was nothing he could do.  
He looked up at a knock at the door. He quickly hid the bomb on his arm and called for the person to come in. The door opened to reveal Saturn Girl, her face grim. This was the last person he wanted to see.  
"Saturn Girl"  
"Brainiac 5, stop." She walked over to him and grasped his arm, holding the bomb near his face. "What are you doing"  
The youngest Legionnaire yanked his arm away quickly. He could not have Saturn Girl touching him when it went off. "I'm not doing anything," said Brainy in his flat, serious, tone. "Just leave me alone"  
Saturn Girl went and shut the door. "Why is there a bomb strapped to your arm, Brainy"  
He sighed. "It's not strapped. It's a built in self destruct function. My people have ordered my destruction. It's inevitable-  
"No it's not! Quit telling yourself that!" Saturn Girl sat down next to him. "When we noticed you hadn't left your room for a while, I came and waited outside your room. I read your mind briefly, just to make sure you were all right. Why have you just given up? That's not the Brainiac 5 I know"  
Brainy couldn't bear to look at her any longer, the pain growing stronger still. He turned away and faced the floor. "There's nothing I can do. This device was built specifically so it cannot be removed or deactivated"  
"But have you even tried?" He shook his head and Saturn Girl gasped. "Why not"  
Brainy sighed. "I…" He couldn't answer. He couldn't exactly explain why he hadn't tried. He just, didn't feel like trying. There was that word again. 'Feel'  
Saturn Girl put a hand on his shoulder and he quickly shrugged it off. "You don't know?" He shook his head. "Could it be…" She sighed. "Could it be that you might want to…" Her sentence ended there. There was no reason to finish.  
Brainy opened his mouth to deny it but couldn't seem to get out the words. Saturn Girl just nodded. "Do you want to be left alone?" He nodded again. "I'm guessing I shouldn't tell the others right?" He nodded once more, still unable to speak. Saturn Girl nodded, her eyes shining with tears. She quickly wiped her eyes and left.  
Brainy looked at the timer again. He only had fifteen minutes left. He lied back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Why hadn't he tried to disarm it? Why had he just accepted it? He looked at the bomb once again and sighed. He wondered if he would feel any pain. That was at least one thing Coluans had in common with humans. They both had the same senses. But for some reason 'feelings' weren't in any way related to the sense of touch. This had always puzzled him. Of course, the feel of something could make you feel a certain way, but that didn't make them the same.  
He stood back up and walked over to his personal computer. He sighed as he opened a composition program and watched as the cursor blinked at the top of the blank page. He had heard about people writing wills, so as to tell the people closest to them important things and to give away their possessions. He had no belongings of real value but he did want to tell his friends something.  
He began to write his will.

To my dear friends,  
I write this as I am awaiting my inevitable death. Saturn Girl must have told you by now that did not try to disarm the bomb. I don't exactly know why I did not, but it probably wouldn't have mattered. The bomb was made specifically as a self destruction device and purposely made so that it could not be deactivated once the countdown had started. So, I have something to say to all of you. Please forgive me for my inability to say this in person.

Bouncing Boy. I know we fought most of the time, but you truly were my closest friend. Thank you for your friendship.

Saturn Girl. Although you were the most mysterious of the group, (excluding myself and Timberwolf of course) everyone felt a strange closeness to you. You seemed to contact that little bit of mystery in all of us and make us feel right with ourselves.

Superman. You were the hero of the group and gave us the will to fight countless times. Your loving and caring nature always brought a smile to my face as well. I can not thank you enough for bringing me some of the only happiness I have ever felt.

Lightning Lad. Lightning Lad, for you, I am at a loss for words. I do not know quite what to say. Just one thing comes to mind. A long time ago, you told me I was bossy. I have been studying humor and have just one thing to say to you. Try looking in a mirror, then tell me who's bossy.

Phantom Girl. Although you could have had everything you wanted in your life as the daughter of our president of the United Planets, you choose to join us in our fight against evil. For that, I thank you. You have also saved us countless times. I will never forget the way you helped us escape the ghost world so long ago. That is, if I will be able to remember anything at all where I go.

Triplicate Girl. Although I did not know much about you, you still kept everyone in good spirits. For that, I thank you.

Timberwolf. Another mysterious member. We seem to be full of them don't we? I am sorry I couldn't find a way to revert you back to your original form. I hope you will forgive me.

And to all of you in general, once again, I thank you. You were my friends, my family, and I will miss you dearly. And last but not least, good bye.

Brainiac 5 took a hesitant glance at the timer. It read two minutes. He sighed, but for some reason he still was having trouble feeling. Maybe Saturn Girl was right. Maybe he really did want to die… He pondered that for a moment before glancing back at his arm. 1:12. He looked back up at his will and sighed again. It didn't really seem to say everything he wanted to.  
He jumped as the bomb on his arm began to beep in count down once it reached one minute. Brainy took a deep breath and began to think of what to write. Once he had thought of it, he began typing away.  
"10." Brainy had just finished typing and looked down at his arm, where the timer now read ten seconds. Brainy gulped and ran over to his bed, burying his face in his pillow. If this caused him any pain, he didn't want the others to hear. "7." Brainy shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. "6." He suddenly felt an overcoming rush of emotion. More emotion than he had ever felt before…And more emotion than he would ever feel again. "5." Brainy passed out due to all of the emotions he was feeling now and due to all of the thoughts that were running through his head now. "1."  
The door to Brainy's room opened and a worried looking Superman. The bomb beeped loudly as the timer ran out and the unconscious Brainy convulsed in pain as the bomb sent a powerful electric shock through his body. It took a moment for Superman to realize what was happening, and that moment probably saved him. Superman immediately rushed over to Brainy's side as the bomb fell from his arm and clattered to the floor. He called out desperately to the others and they all came rushing in as well. As the others were standing around Brainy, Phantom Girl looked up at his computer and found the will.  
"Guys…" They all turned and began reading it. Once they reached the bottom, they read something that they would never expect to see from their little android.

I love you.


End file.
